Terps will try to make do without Cekovsky against Minnesota

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- No. 24 Maryland (22-5, 10-4 Big Ten) returns home Feb. 22 to play Minnesota (20-7, 8-6) for the second time this season and will do so down a man with junior center Michal Cekovsky out for the remainder of the season after fracturing his ankle in the Terps’ loss Sunday at Wisconsin.

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But head coach Mark Turgeon’s team beat the Golden Gophers by seven points at Williams Arena less than a month ago without a major contribution from Cekovsky, or any other big for that matter, leaving Maryland’s lead man confident entering Wednesday night’s Big Ten matchup in College Park.

“First of all, I feel bad for [Cekovsky],” Turgeon said Feb. 21. “The kid has been hurt all year and he has played through a lot this season but obviously he can’t play through this one. We’ve got to move on without him but we’ve played a lot of games and won a lot of games without him, too. Did [Cekovsky] give us something on our team that no one else can give? Absolutely, so we’re going to miss that. And he was just starting to play the way he was capable of, so it’s disappointing. But with that said, we have a lot of confidence in our guys. L.G. [Gill] has played some center for us. Ivan [Bender] has, obviously, played a lot of center for us. So our rotation changes a little bit. We’ll be a little bit smaller. But we’ve played without [Cekovsky] a lot of games this year, so we know how to do it.”

Maryland’s trip to Minneapolis, Minn., earlier this season was Cekovsky’s second game back from another ankle injury that caused him to miss the Terps’ first six Big Ten games. The 7-foot Slovakian played just six minutes and posted a line of one point and one rebound.

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However, none of Maryland’s other bigs fared too well against Minnesota either, as Damonte Dodd, L.G. Gill and Ivan Bender combined for 13 points, six rebounds and one block.

It was a stat-stuffing effort by junior guard Melo Trimble as well as some solid performances from Maryland’s trio of starting freshmen, including a career-high 28 points by forward Justin Jackson, that propelled the Terps to a win over the Golden Gophers once already this season. But with the way Minnesota’s frontcourt has been playing as of late, Maryland is going to need to get more out of its big guys down in the post on Wednesday night.

The Golden Gophers have won their last five games thanks to some terrific post play. Sophomore power forward Jordan Murphy has been on a tear in his last four outings, averaging 18 points and 15 rebounds during that stretch, and Murphy’s partner in Minnesota’s frontcourt, junior center Jordan Lynch, has been a menace to opponents down low all season long, averaging a conference-best 3.1 blocks per game.

“I saw the other day that one of their players is averaging 18 [points] and 15 [rebounds] (over the last four games) and he’s a four man, so we’re going to have to do a really good job on him and keep him off the glass,” Trimble said. “They’re a complete team. Their record might not show it but we all know they’re a really good team that can score and defend.”

Trimble averaged 29.5 points and was Maryland’s most consistent scorer in its last two games. But Turgeon is looking for another one of his upperclassmen to step up in a big way on Wednesday night, especially with Cekovsky sidelined and the Golden Gophers’ frontcourt playing so well.

“It’s a big, strong team that’s a lot like Wisconsin,” Turgeon said. “We’ve been talking about Damonte [Dodd] playing without fouling every game, even with [Cekovsky]. So we’ll continue to do that. He’s got to play a little bit smarter defensively, but he’s got to be a presence too. And hopefully being at home will help him to be a little bit more aggressive but be smart about it. But we have confidence in Ivan [Bender] and we have confidence in L.G. [Gill] there. But for us to be great down the stretch, Damonte [Dodd] can’t play 15 minutes or 13 minutes I don’t think and be in foul trouble. He’s got to give us 25 [minutes] at least for us to be great.”

Minnesota isn’t going to run any opponent out of the gym with its scoring and the success of the Golden Gophers this season has mostly been predicated on defense. KenPom ranks Minnesota 14th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, but Richard Pitino’s team also appears to be hitting its stride offensively, averaging nearly 80 points per game during its five-game winning streak.

Turgeon knows the Terps will be facing a red-hot team on Wednesday night, but believes a little home cooking should do Maryland some good during the final stretch of the season.

“We’ve played eight out of 12 games on the road,” Turgeon said. “We haven’t been home much so it will be nice to play three of our last four at home and kind of get comfortable with it. We should have great crowds in all three games. We have a big-time game [Wednesday] with Minnesota and then a Saturday game where we’re honoring the Final Four team and the National Championship team, and then of course Michigan State on Senior Day. So it should be a lot of fun just to be home. We love playing in this building and we’re looking forward to it.”

Tipoff in College Park between Maryland and Minnesota is set for 8:30 p.m. EST. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.